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By Anto Antony and George Smith Alexander Indian initial public offerings are headed for a record year, as a rush of insurers seek to ride a rally in the local market and tap increasing investor demand for financial assets. At least four Indian insurers are aiming to price stock offerings by the end of 2017, according to people familiar with the matter. Total fundraising from first-time share sales in the country could rise to 500 billion rupees ($7.8 billion) this year, Ajay Saraf, head of investment banking at India’s No. 1 IPO underwriter ICICI Securities Ltd., said in an interview.

[Second] Vietnam has made amazing progress over the last decade. Its annual GDP growth averaged 6.3% with a remarkably high GDP per capita CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 14%, which places the nation only behind China in Asia.
With a stable currency, highly competitive labor cost, an improving regulatory environment and favorable business conditions, the country most certainly has earned the interest of foreign direct investment in recent years.

Vietnam has made amazing progress over the last decade. Its annual GDP growth averaged 6.3% with a remarkably high GDP per capita CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 14%, which places the nation only behind China in Asia.
With a stable currency, highly competitive labor cost, an improving regulatory environment and favorable business conditions, the country most certainly has earned the interest of foreign direct investment in recent years.

HSBC Group is expected in the next few months to sell its 8.0% stake in the Bank of Shanghai. The financial services giant could receive as much as $800 million from its shares in the second-tier Chinese lender. Why do analysts think HSBC will unload its holding soon? It looks like the Bank of Shanghai is set to raise $2 billion by selling newly issued stock, on the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges, with a value of up to 30% of its existing shares. The listing could occur before June, so HSBC will have to act now if it does not want to be trapped by a lock-up period, typically imposed on e

By Fergal Smith and Matt Scuffham
Investors are losing enthusiasm for Canada’s banking stocks as a slowdown in the country’s housing market dents banks’ growth prospects, and they see insurance companies as a better bet to benefit from higher interest rates.

MUMBAI: The government's bid to offload stakes in companies held by the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) faces a hurdle as investment bankers say the fine print is too restrictive, potentially delaying asset-sale plans. The banks can't handle any fund-raising programme for companies in the same line of business for three years on the grounds of conflict of interest, which would mean them taking a hit on capital market advisory income.

Canada’s top financial regulator has backed down on a demand to be given a month’s notice before senior management changes are made at the country’s banks. But the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions will nonetheless be involved more formally in the hiring process than in the past.
A final advisory issued Wednesday will see information about prospective senior hires submitted to the bank regulator, and provide for newly hired senior managers at large, complex financial institutions to meet with the regulator after they are hired.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — It had been 17 years since a sitting Canadian prime minister had visited Malaysia and on Saturday Stephen Harper slipped in with barely a ripple.
Amid a capital consumed with a state visit by new Chinese President Xi Jinping, Harper simply couldn’t compete and chose to spend a low-key day touring a mosque and a maritime air base and speaking to Canadian business leaders.
That’s not to say Canadians aren’t competing in Southeast Asia.

Michael Johnston submits:In a year that has seen many stock markets struggle to find their footing, one of the bright spots in the global economy has been the developing Asian market of Malaysia. The Malaysian economy expanded at rate of 4.5% in the fourth quarter of 2009, and the government is now forecasting GDP growth of 6% for 2010.